U.S. House passes election bill spurred by Jan. 6, but fate unclear

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to overhaul Congress' certification process for presidential elections on Wednesday, a crucial step as Democrats hope to prevent the kind of chaos from Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters tried to subvert Joe Biden's victory.

The bill passed the House in a vote of 229-203, with most Republicans in opposition. It will need to resolve differences with a similar Senate bill before it can head to Biden to sign.

The Biden administration said in a statement it supported the bill.

The current process, which is laid out in the 1887 Electoral Count Act, came under scrutiny after hundreds of supporters of Republican then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a deadly attempt to stop the certification of Democrat Biden as the new president.

The violence occurred after Trump falsely claimed - and continues to allege - that he lost the election due to rampant fraud.